Peridinium

Taxonomy and nomenclature

Formerly, the genus Peridinium was used to house a number of
armored dinoflagellates with an equatorial girdle and numerous thecal
plates. Many species
listed within Peridinium may reside in different genera on the
basis of fine(!) details of plate
structure (the "plate tabulation"). This situation applies, for instance,
with the endosymbiont-bearing species
Peridinium (=Glenodinium) balticum and
P. (=G.) foliaceum, and with marine colorless
dinoflagellates that are now most often referred to the genus Protoperidinium. If an isolate
labelled Peridinium has not been checked carefully by an expert
in plate tabulation analysis,
the identification to genus and species must be considered uncertain.